What happens if you smoke one cigarette during pregnancy? How does smoking affect pregnancy? Is it true that a woman who has been smoking for a long time should not quit smoking during pregnancy?

home

Video recorders

The negative impact of smoking on health is beyond doubt. It is impossible to identify any organ or system that does not suffer from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke. This includes the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems, the brain and heart, liver and kidneys. Smoking is doubly harmful in early pregnancy.

All toxic substances contained in nicotine penetrate the child’s blood, disrupting its normal development. A mother’s bad habit will inevitably affect the health of the unborn child. A woman should give up cigarettes during pregnancy. It must be remembered that smoking harms the fetus at any stage. But this is especially dangerous in the first trimester.

Results of smoking in a pregnant woman

Motherhood and birth healthy child– a woman’s assigned mission by nature. The second part of this axiom depends on the health of the expectant mother and her behavioral habits during pregnancy. First of all, this concerns smoking. Cigarette smoke contains more than 30 toxic components. These include carbon monoxide, mercury compounds, nicotine, cadmium, cobalt and others. Constantly inhaling them leads to inevitable tobacco intoxication.

In this regard, smoking by a pregnant woman has such dangerous consequences, How:

carbon monoxide prevents the penetration of oxygen into cells;
narrowing of blood vessels in the placenta and nutritional deficiency in the fetus;
increased heart rate in the child;
mutation under the influence of carcinogens;
genetic defects and developmental abnormalities in the child.

Smoking in the first weeks of pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage. In the future, even if spontaneous abortion does not occur, the pregnancy will be more difficult, with the likelihood of developing eclampsia and preeclampsia. These concepts denote severe gestosis, which manifests itself in the second or third trimester, and pose a real threat to the life of the child and mother.

The risk of stillbirth cannot be excluded. Moreover, this likelihood increases significantly if both the father and mother smoke at the same time. If a woman actively smokes in the first month after conception, she is likely to experience early toxicosis. The consequences of smoking also affect the condition of the placenta. Under the influence of nicotine, the placenta becomes thin, its blood supply is disrupted, which means that the child experiences a deficiency in the supply of nutrients that are necessary for its normal growth and development.

This condition is fraught with premature detachment, which is often accompanied by heavy bleeding. In severe cases, this leads to the death of the fetus and the woman herself.

Studies have found that a pregnant woman who smokes contains nicotine in the amniotic fluid, placenta and fetal serum, and in a concentration greater than that of the mother herself. The risk of premature birth increases significantly if a pregnant woman smokes more than 5 cigarettes per day. Hypoxia caused by underdevelopment of the placenta has both short-term and long-term consequences.

In the first case, the child will be less active in the womb and the woman will feel his movements less. Wherein heartbeat the child speeds up. This occurs due to the fact that the fetus is trying to get oxygen. One cigarette smoked slows down a child's movements for half an hour. Long-term consequences are manifested in the fact that after birth the child has a high probability of developing neurological pathologies.

Cigarette smoke and nicotine interfere with the absorption of vitamins that a woman should take during pregnancy. In the 1st trimester, at the beginning of the formation of the fetus’s body, she needs B vitamins, folic and ascorbic acid. A sufficient amount of them ensures the normal development of the future central nervous system.

All organs and systems of the fetus are affected by exposure to tobacco smoke.

Harmful substances contained in tobacco smoke cause spasm of the blood vessels of the uterus. This, in turn, leads to fetoplacental insufficiency. The result of oxygen deficiency and predominance carbon dioxide is fetal hypoxia.

Consequences for the child

Children of women who abuse smoking during pregnancy have serious health problems. While still in the womb, they become passive smokers. Nicotine prevents the full maturation of the organs of the unborn child. Healthy cells are replaced by diseased ones. This is due to the influence of tobacco toxins.

The greatest harm from cigarettes smoked by the mother during pregnancy is caused to the bone marrow. Sometimes a child needs a transplant immediately after birth. Many others negative consequences Smoking during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, when the formation of all vital organs and systems occurs, manifests itself in the following consequences:

prematurity and low birth weight;
the risk of perinatal mortality increases;
the likelihood of developing various defects increases significantly;
significant mental retardation and physical development;
development of genetic abnormalities.

Women who smoke during pregnancy often give birth to low birth weight babies. However, some of them regard this fact as positive. But this is not entirely true. Such a child may lag behind in physical development in the future. Among the physical malformations in the unborn child, the most common defect is neural tube, heart defect, hernia, cleft lip, strabismus.

If a woman who smokes becomes pregnant and does not stop smoking, then she has a high probability of having a child with Down syndrome. It often happens that a child born to a smoking woman refuses to breast milk because it has an unpleasant bitter taste. Smoking in the first weeks of pregnancy can lead to the fact that the born child, regardless of its gender, may be infertile in the future.

Because the toxic substances of nicotine affect the baby's brain in the womb, after birth they are often restless, moody, cry a lot and sleep poorly. In addition, statistics show that smoking mothers have a significantly increased risk sudden death baby in the first year of their life. In most cases, this occurs as a result of sudden cardiac arrest.

If we take the average, then smokers, compared to others, develop complications of pregnancy and childbirth to a greater extent. The most common among them are:

premature separation of the placenta;
bleeding;
premature membrane rupture;
ectopic pregnancy;
external defects of the fetus.

Women during pregnancy should avoid exposure to tobacco smoke

It's time to say goodbye to the cigarette

A smoking woman finds out that she will soon become a mother - this is exactly the moment when she needs to give up this habit. bad habit. The greatest harm from cigarettes lies in the effects of nicotine on the body of the mother and unborn child. Nicotine belongs to the category of poisonous alkaloids that have a nerve-paralytic effect. It destroys the human immune and nervous system.

It is known that in the first weeks and months of pregnancy, the formation of the child’s organs occurs, and he needs to receive not carcinogens from tobacco smoke, but oxygen and nutrients. Nicotine freely penetrates the placenta, and all its harm passes on to the fetus. The destructive effect of nicotine also affects the child’s brain, leading him to mental retardation in the future.

Even if mental development is normal, such a child will be excessively capricious, easily excitable and restless. Nicotine also affects testosterone. Therefore, if a pregnant woman is expecting a boy, then this fact should not be ignored. Tobacco smoke can cause irreversible changes in the baby’s skeletal system, causing musculoskeletal pathologies.

It often happens that a woman is unable to quit smoking and switches to lighter cigarettes, believing that this will reduce the harmful effects on the fetus. In fact, carbon dioxide is found in both heavy and light cigarettes. Therefore, it is impossible to avoid fetal hypoxia as a result of lack of oxygen. The same applies to trying to get out of the situation by reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day.

Of course, the harm from nicotine depends on its concentration, but even 2 cigarettes a day can have a detrimental effect.

A woman who smokes is responsible for the health of her unborn child.

If a woman who smokes is planning a pregnancy, she should stop smoking one year before trying to conceive a child. But if this does not happen and the attempts are successful, then she is advised to significantly reduce the usual dosage. Doctors recommend quitting smoking following diagram:

in the first week the number of cigarettes smoked is reduced by half;
on the second, do not smoke the cigarette completely;
in the third week, delay it only in case of “extreme necessity”.

A positive psychological attitude and thoughts about the health of the unborn child will give determination in this matter. After all, giving up this bad habit is much easier, compared to the moral responsibility for poor health or even the death of a child.

One of the most significant myths is that smoking is not very dangerous for children. Of course this is not true. Every cigarette you smoke threatens your pregnancy and the health of your unborn baby. That's why ideal option will quit smoking even before conception.

It is generally accepted that cigarettes are more High Quality cause less harm. People who deal with this are very mistaken. The effect of all cigarettes is the same, it does not depend on their price. It’s just that expensive cigarettes contain various aromatic additives; they are more pleasant to smoke, but they also harm the organisms of the expectant mother and child.

There is an opinion that you should not quit smoking during pregnancy. They say that the cleansing of the body begins, it passes through the fetus and harms it. But any doctor will tell you that continuing to smoke is more dangerous.

Some pregnant women understand that their bad habit can harm the baby, but cannot get rid of it. And then they decide to switch to lighter cigarettes, believing that in this way less nicotine and tar will enter the body. But this does not affect risk reduction. The smoker will strive to replenish the level of nicotine in the body by inhaling more smoke or smoking more cigarettes.

Quitting smoking gradually also has little effect. The best thing you can do is to give up cigarettes at once. This way the body will cleanse itself much faster.

Consequences of smoking in early pregnancy

In the first trimester of pregnancy, organs and systems of the human body are formed. In the future, they will only develop, and the fetus will gain weight and grow.

Smoking at this stage of pregnancy can cause spontaneous miscarriage or “fading” of pregnancy. Statistics show that pregnant women who smoke have miscarriages 2 times more often than women who smoke. healthy image life.

Also, smoking in the early stages of pregnancy can cause congenital abnormalities in the development of the baby. The child will be at risk of pathologies of the neural tube, bone and other body systems if the expectant mother does not give up her addiction.

Consequences of smoking in late pregnancy

In the second trimester, the placenta begins to work in full force. Through it, the child receives oxygen and nutrients. If a pregnant woman smokes, not enough oxygen enters the baby's body, which can cause acute or chronic hypoxia. The placenta may also ripen prematurely and function worse.

Smoking during pregnancy can cause premature birth. Mothers who are addicted to cigarettes are several times more likely to give birth to premature babies. And children born at term have less weight. By the way, smoking affects this not only during pregnancy, but also before its onset.

Stillbirths to women who smoke are approximately 20% more common than to non-smokers. If future mom smokes more than a pack of cigarettes per day, the figure increases to 35%. But much depends not on the fact of smoking itself, but also on other unfavorable factors. If a woman, in addition to smoking, has sexually transmitted diseases and other infections, and drinks alcohol, then the risk of giving birth to a stillborn baby increases significantly.

When the baby is already born

Many people believe that if smoking during pregnancy does not immediately leave various consequences, then everything is fine. But this is absolutely not true.

Mothers who were unable to quit smoking while pregnant and continue to do so produce less milk and have a bitter taste. Because of this, many children refuse to breastfeed and have to be artificially fed.

Babies with smoking mothers have an increased risk of dying from sudden cardiac arrest. This happens in babies in the first year of life for no apparent reason. The risk increases in women who smoked during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

One of the most discussed and controversial issues in medicine is smoking during pregnancy. Until the 50s of the 20th century, it was believed that smoking was not only safe for children, but also harmless for the smoker himself. Only recently, in the light of the development of technology and medicine, research has proven catastrophically Negative influence smoking on the fetus.

Is it possible to smoke while pregnant?

Many mothers believe that smoking during pregnancy has little effect on the child. It's important to support peace of mind. It is the psycho-emotional state of the expectant mother that is the stumbling block in the matter of quitting a bad habit during pregnancy. On the one hand, there is the scientifically proven harm of nicotine and impurities on the fetus, on the other, there is a hysterical mother, whose condition is transmitted to the child and negatively affects his psyche.

Doctors have different opinions. Both sides agree that they need to quit, but when? Some categorically insist on immediately stopping smoking from the moment a woman learns about her situation. Opponents admit the possibility of smoking a certain dose of nicotine to relieve stress from the mother’s body.

The consequences of smoking are terrible for the unborn child. In 70% of cases they will be impossible to cure or eliminate.

If the woman smoked long time, and this was precisely the need, and not “pretentiously holding a menthol slime in your fingers,” it would not be possible to abruptly quit the habit. Cigarettes are addictive, like drugs, and quitting them leads to withdrawal symptoms. In this case, it is best to honestly tell the leading gynecologist about your bad habit, without being embarrassed by sidelong glances. The problem must be solved competently. Doctors who do not have conservative views will approve, in cases of urgent need, when nerves are at their limit, to “knock the edge off” with a couple of puffs. The smell and familiar mechanical movements will calm the raging psyche and help you pull yourself together. However, it is advisable to stop the bad habit, and the incentive will be given by the consequences that will appear in the child as a result of maternal smoking.

Harm from smoking in early pregnancy

In early pregnancy, smoking can cause physical harm. During the first 3 months, the “structure” of a person occurs. From one cell, an entire organism develops, consisting of different tissues and organs. The process is controlled by a natural mechanism using the DNA molecule. Essentially, DNA is a program that performs actions sequentially. Imagine that a piece was cut out of the program code, or a part was taken away from the mechanism. The work will continue, but the missing element will disrupt the sequence. It’s the same with DNA—cigarette elements attach to chromosomes and “throw them out” of the system. A shift occurs and the body develops further, but in a negative direction.

In addition, nicotine has a negative effect on the mother's body. The worst thing that can happen is a miscarriage. It has been proven that smoking in the early stages is dangerous and doubles the chance of miscarriage.

It is worth paying attention to the effect of nicotine on the blood vessels of the placenta - a spasm occurs, and the fetus experiences hypoxia - oxygen starvation. This leads to a wide variety of consequences, ranging from low weight to psychological illnesses in the child for life.

What happens when you smoke late in life?

From the 4th month of pregnancy, in the mother’s stomach there is no longer a fetus, but a person. Quite tiny, but it is a fully formed organism, with a full set of systems. Over the next 5 months, the child will grow, developing internal organs. If the fetus managed to avoid problems in the first trimester, in conditions of constant nicotine feeding, during these 5 months, it can acquire a wide range of diseases of the internal organs that have already formed.

In the womb, the baby uses 3 systems:

respiratory;
digestive;
cardiovascular.

They are not 100% involved, but are constantly involved in the work. Consequently, nicotine that enters a child’s body primarily affects them. The circulation of cigarette “waste” through the fetus with maternal blood clogs the working organs, inhibiting their further development.

The next most important factor is considered to be the moment when the fetus gets used to nicotine. Until the body was forming, it was difficult for it to perceive the resulting chemicals as a drug, which nicotine is, in essence. With the formation of all basic systems, the child’s body is able to process the substances received and become addicted to nicotine before you are born. After childbirth, the child is deprived of constant nourishment and experiences withdrawal, just like adults who abruptly quit smoking. He will cry, be capricious, sleep poorly and be constantly stressed.

Third place in the list of importance of smoking on later, takes the possibility of premature birth. Smoking mothers are more likely to have premature births, which means prematurity and a high mortality threshold. Even if you are in your 9th month, smoking is still dangerous.

Is passive smoking harmful during pregnancy?

Passive smoking is a dilemma that leads to heated debate and debate. Some people believe that passive smoking is low-risk, because most of the nicotine ends up in the smoker's lungs.

A pregnant woman who smokes increases her chances of miscarriage many times over.

A cigarette consists of more than just tobacco! Smoking pure tobacco is a very difficult task. To reduce the cost of raw materials, give a pleasant taste and increase addiction, a lot of ingredients are added to the cigarette. chemical elements. Tobacco burns along with impurities and enters the lungs with smoke, settling in the alveoli, but chemical additives come back out. Thus, passive smokers inhale not nicotine, but related drugs. It is resins and chemistry that are currently considered the most dangerous components for human life.

Passive smoking does not cause any particular addiction, but it hits the “smoker’s” body with a vengeance. For ease of vision, imagine a watermelon. The pulp is nicotine, and the seeds are impurities. An ordinary smoker eats the pulp and some of the seeds, and spits out some. A passive smoker simply eats up these bones.

The opinion of doctors is clear - passive smoking is no less dangerous than active smoking, both for mother and child. Pure tars easily settle in the lungs, leading to a wide range of respiratory diseases.

Consequences of smoking during pregnancy

The consequences can be varied. Some become known when the fetus is in the womb, some appear months after birth:

Mutation. Children of smoking mothers can be born with 6 fingers, without an ear or nasal cartilage, there are cases of children being born with a “tail” extension from the tailbone, and so on.
Facial deformities.“Cleft lip” and “cleft palate” occur many times more often in children of smoking mothers than in non-smoking mothers.
Cirrhosis of the liver. Thanks to the passage of nicotine through the digestive tract, from the first seconds of life, the child is provided with an operating table.
Asthma. 60–70% of children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have congenital asthma.
Cerebral palsy and similar diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Mental retardation, including Down's disease.
Clubfoot. The possibility of giving birth to a child with clubfoot is 34% greater for a smoking mother than for a non-smoking mother.
Reproductive dysfunction in children. Boys may have problems with potency in the future.
Psychological abnormalities: inattention, impulsiveness, hyperactivity syndrome, decreased level of mental development.
Newborn mortality. 30% more in smokers than in women leading a healthy lifestyle.

How long before conception should you quit smoking?

The problem is not only the fact of the presence of nicotine, but its negative impact. When a person quits smoking, the body experiences stress. Processes of “healing” of damaged organs occur, primarily the respiratory tract and heart (tachycardia, shortness of breath, bronchial deposits). Spending money on their restoration a large number of resources. At the same time, there is a colossal load on the nervous system.

Such experiments are not advisable for a pregnant woman. Her body must direct all available resources to bear the child.

Ideally, you should quit smoking 1 year before conception. The process itself will take place at a moderate pace, without sudden stops, and the body will have a lot of time to recover. The minimum period for stopping smoking is 3 months before pregnancy.

If a woman is a heavy smoker, the process will be difficult and difficult. When considering a situation in which pregnancy is not planned, but you need to quit smoking, you can resort to a number of “rules”:

Use one-piece slims. Not only is the dose of nicotine small, but they themselves are heavy, which means that you will, by definition, smoke less.
Replace the usual mechanical action with another. Often, it is not the cigarette that “calms” you down, but the movement itself.
Don't smoke the entire cigarette. Each time you try to leave more and more unfinished cigarettes.
Don't put yourself in situations that make you want to smoke. Nervous stress and the company of smoking friends tempt and encourage you to take a puff.

IN recent years, electronic cigarettes have become widespread. They are considered an alternative to the old way of smoking. There are many models and additives to satisfy the tastes of the most meticulous smokers. Before making an expensive purchase, consult a gynecologist, ask friends and acquaintances, maybe some of them have this miracle of technology. It cannot be called absolutely safe, but as an alternative during pregnancy, it is quite suitable if you completely stop smoking during pregnancy. as soon as possible does not seem possible.

The factor that poses perhaps the greatest danger to the health of a child developing in the womb is smoking. This is due to the fact that during pregnancy, a large number of other harmful substances, including carbon monoxide and tar, penetrate into the body of the expectant mother simultaneously with nicotine.

Everyone knows perfectly well about the dangers of smoking. But according to statistics, the number of women with this bad habit is not decreasing, but rather increasing, while at the same time the age at which girls start smoking is decreasing. What should a pregnant woman do if she is addicted to nicotine? In this case, there can be no compromise solutions - it is necessary to give up the addiction as soon as possible. Of course, each person has the right to independently make such decisions and bear responsibility for their health and for their unborn child. However, it is still worth weighing everything carefully after finding out what effect smoking has on pregnancy. This information should help the expectant mother set her priorities correctly and easily take the first step in new life, having forgotten about the bad habit.

What effect does smoking have on pregnancy?

Scientists from many countries have conducted a huge amount of research, the purpose of which was to determine the impact of addictions on the development of pregnancy and the formation of the fetus in the mother’s womb. The results of each of them confirmed that smoking has a negative effect of nicotine on a pregnant woman and her offspring: the body of the expectant mother, in which global restructuring is already taking place, suffers, the correct intrauterine formation of the fetus is compromised, and the risk of developing abnormalities in the infant increases.

At the moment when the expectant mother takes a puff of nicotine, the baby is enveloped in a cloud of smoke, which causes vasospasm, which can cause the risk of intrauterine hypoxia. Under the influence of cigarettes, the placenta becomes thinner, becomes round, and increases the likelihood of abruption. Due to the addiction, hemoglobin in a woman’s body loses its function, which is to deliver oxygen to the uterus and the fetus growing in it. As a result, the uterus undergoes arterial spasm, leading to disruption of placental function, as a result of which the fetus experiences oxygen starvation.

With every cigarette a pregnant woman smokes, she gets closer to dangerous, sometimes irreparable consequences, which include the following:

Increased likelihood of premature termination of pregnancy.
The birth of a premature baby with serious health problems.
Increased risk of intrauterine fetal death.
Low weight of the born child, due to which his chances of proper development will be significantly reduced.
Development of various abnormalities in the fetus.
The occurrence of preeclampsia is a phenomenon that poses a threat to the life of a woman and child (a pregnant woman develops severe edema, protein is detected in a urine test, and a sharp increase in pressure occurs).
Even if immediately after the birth of a child, a mother who smokes seems to have no pathologies, over time the consequences of addiction to nicotine may appear - mental and social impairments.

Some mothers believe that if they do not smoke a whole cigarette, but take a small number of puffs per day, this will not harm the child’s health. This opinion is wrong. The consequences of a pregnant woman’s harmful habits will definitely make themselves felt, even if the expectant mother herself does not feel it at the moment. These consequences include the following:

the health of pregnant women who smoke is worse than that of those who lead a healthy lifestyle;
nicotine can provoke the occurrence of varicose veins or its aggravation;
manifestations such as stool disorders, dizziness are possible;
toxicosis in the first trimester and gestosis in the last.

Harmful substances contained in cigarettes destroy vitamin C in the body of a pregnant woman. A lack of this element can lead to metabolic disorders, deterioration of immunity, insufficient absorption of proteins, and psycho-emotional disorders.

Smoking while pregnant jeopardizes its successful development after birth. A smoking mother contributes to smoke poisoning of the child in her womb. Thus, the fetus becomes a victim of passive smoking, which increases the likelihood of it acquiring harmful habits in the future. For children whose mothers were unable to give up cigarettes during pregnancy, the first acquaintance with nicotine and alcohol often occurs very early. Babies, while still in the womb, become addicted to nicotine, they are more capricious, sleep worse, at an older age they cannot concentrate, some of them suffer from attacks of suffocation.

In addition, according to the results of recent clinical trials it became clear that carcinogens entering the body of a pregnant woman with cigarette smoke have negative impact on the reproductive health of the unborn child. This means that when children are born, they may suffer from infertility when they grow up: girls with mothers who smoked during pregnancy have a significantly reduced supply of eggs, while boys are at risk of impotence.

No matter what stage of pregnancy a smoking woman has, it will still harm her offspring to some extent. The only difference is which internal organ of the baby will be affected more than others.

Smoking in the first trimester
When a woman suffering from nicotine addiction finds out that she is pregnant, she begins to worry that her addiction has already harmed her baby. In such a situation, you can slightly reassure the expectant mother. The first week after fertilization of the egg is neutral; at this time, a strong connection between the embryo and the mother’s body has not yet been established. At the moment, its development is carried out at the expense of its own resources. Immersion of the embryo into the endometrium occurs at the beginning of the second week, at which time the woman begins to suspect that she is pregnant.

Satisfying a bad habit does not allow pregnancy to develop normally, the baby’s organs to develop, and healthy cells to be replaced by diseased ones.

In particularly severe situations, the toxic substances contained in cigarettes cause such severe distortion of the structure of the fetal bone marrow that when the child is born, he needs a bone marrow transplant.

From the above, it becomes clear that the greatest threat to the child’s health is posed by smoking in the first trimester of pregnancy, since it is at this time that vital development occurs. important systems baby.

Oxygen starvation of the fetus, disruption of blood flow in the vessels of the placenta, premature termination of pregnancy, increased risk of bleeding - these are not all the complications that smoking during pregnancy can lead to.

At the moment, there is an increase in the number of cases in which mothers who have not given up a bad habit give birth to a child with congenital defects.

Nicotine in the last months of pregnancy
Satisfaction of addictions closer to the end of pregnancy leads to severe consequences: bleeding from the uterus, premature birth. The mother's nicotine addiction also causes enormous harm to the fetus. In this case, children may experience poor brain development, low body weight, and unexpected death soon after birth.

The last month of pregnancy is a very important period when both the mother’s body and the fetus itself are preparing for the main event - childbirth. Over the course of a week, the baby becomes heavier by about 250 grams and eventually sinks into the pelvis. The expectant mother more often feels contractions that are not long or painful; she begins to breathe easily and freely again. But not if you haven’t given up smoking. A woman who was unable to get rid of her addiction by the end of her pregnancy may face many complications:

the placenta may completely or partially detach, resulting in bleeding from the uterus;
blood pressure increases significantly;
late toxicosis appears;
labor begins ahead of schedule;
increased risk of stillbirth;
a premature baby may be weak and sickly.

Below is a list of diseases that can deprive a child of all chances to live fully if the expectant mother does not find the strength to get rid of bad habits during pregnancy:

mental disorders;
pathologies of the central nervous system;
Down syndrome;
strabismus;
inguinal hernia;
myocardial diseases;
diseases of the nasopharynx.

All experts are of the same opinion - it is necessary to quit smoking. When the expectant mother does this the right step, she brings enormous benefits to the health of her own child, even if she did it in the last months of pregnancy.

Video: smoking during pregnancy

Despite the fact that smoking quite often causes a decrease in the viability of eggs, and doctors tirelessly repeat about the dangers of smoking during pregnancy, women with nicotine addiction sometimes unexpectedly find out that they are pregnant and understand that the best moment to quit bad habit missed.

From a medical point of view, it is best to quit smoking a year and a half before the planned pregnancy, in extreme cases - at least a month. But life circumstances do not always fit into a pre-verified plan: if you did not have time to say goodbye to a cigarette long before conception, you need to do it as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences of smoking will definitely affect the condition of the fetus.

Consequences of smoking in early pregnancy

Quitting smoking is an important decision that has a positive effect on the health of the unborn child.

Tobacco smoke is not without reason considered one of the strongest carcinogens that poisons the human body. Another negative factor is nicotine, a very toxic substance for the developing organism. That is why the fetus will not be safe if a pregnant woman switches from cigarettes or cigars to nicotine gum or patches to facilitate the process of weaning from a bad habit.

Even passive smoking by the mother can provoke developmental pathologies in the child. Numerous studies have confirmed that the number of spontaneous abortions in the early stages among smokers is an order of magnitude higher than among women who have never smoked or who gave up the addiction before pregnancy. But even if the embryo survives, the influence of tobacco on the process of its formation remains noticeable.

Children of smoking mothers are significantly susceptible to:

infertility and other problems with the reproductive system;
risk of being born premature;
underdevelopment of the lungs, bronchial asthma and other respiratory dysfunctions;
sudden infant death syndrome;
immunodeficiency states;
developmental delay, slow growth;
diseases of the cardiovascular system.

The harm of smoking during pregnancy, including in the early stages, is due to the destructive effect not only directly on the embryo, but also on the placenta: under the influence of nicotine, it becomes thinner, deformed and experiences problems with blood supply, which is fraught with its premature rejection, hemorrhages and fetal death.

Carcinogenic tobacco smoke provokes spasms in the uterine arteries and reduces the amount of oxygen reaching the fetus, thereby slowing down its growth and development. Excess carbon dioxide in the blood harms the unborn child, causing him to suffer from hypoxia.

5 arguments against smoking in the first trimester

A lot has been said and written about the effect of smoking on pregnancy in the earliest stages. The first weeks of embryo formation are the most crucial period, and therefore the stakes are extremely high. It is in the early stages that the basic systems of the body are formed, including the nervous and digestive systems.

Even seemingly insignificant errors in a pregnant woman’s lifestyle can have adverse consequences.

The more often a mother smokes, the worse it is for the child.

Tobacco smoke contains about three dozen toxic substances: many of them interfere with the absorption of vital vitamins, including ascorbic and folic acid, as well as B vitamins, thereby causing irreparable harm to the nervous system of the unborn baby. Instead of healthy cells, defective ones are formed.
The consequences of maternal smoking in early pregnancy are often noticeable immediately after the birth of the child: the bone marrow, central nervous system, respiratory organs, immune system.
It is in the first trimester of pregnancy (in the eighth week of gestation) that the nasopharynx is formed, so the likelihood of having a child with pathologies that require complex surgical intervention(“cleft palate”, “cleft lip”), increases in smoking mothers.
Smoking is no less dangerous in the twelfth week, when the thyroid and thymus glands are actively growing and functioning, and the foundations of immunity are being laid.
There is a common but false belief that during the first two weeks of pregnancy the embryo develops completely autonomously. There is supposedly no close connection between him and the mother’s body yet. Remember once and for all that this statement is not true and medical realities indicate otherwise.

Some women justify their addiction to smoking in an interesting situation by the fact that it is impossible to quit abruptly, since the child will experience even more stress than with a gradual refusal and reducing the number of cigarettes smoked.” But doctors insist on a sharp refusal so that harmful substances immediately began to be eliminated from the body of the expectant mother - the sooner natural cleansing of toxins begins, the better.

Sections